Prefabricated dwelling



0t.27,1936. C L WOOLDR'IDGg 2,058,543

PREVFABRICATED DWELLING' Oct. 27, 1936. Q WQOLDRHDGE 2,053,543

PREFABRIGATED DwELL-ING Filed July 31, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Vl@ L KiTcHEN "WD5 @om BED l 4( 45 .n 3 u O a 45g. GUE] LIVING ROOM BED KOCH BED 23 23 Pfiff 15 Jiffy/ 139:4

' INVENTOR.

af/esl. BY

` @,ww mwyfm ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 27, 1936.

c. L. wooLDRlDGE 2,058,543

PREFABRI CATED DWELL ING Filed July 31, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

6mm Mw-Y 5M A HORNE Ys.

Oct. 27, 1936. c. LQWOOLDRIDGE 2,058,543

' PREFABRICATED DWELLING Filed July 31, 1953 5 sheets-sheet 5 IN VENTOR kar/QSL Woa/afrff e,

, BY I ATTORNEYS.

other.

Patented Oct. 27, 1936 STATES' Fries PATKT 3 fil My invention relates to buildings which are constructed at least in part before the materials are brought to the building site, and particularly to pre-fabricated dwellings comprising portable room units.

In'the construction of buildings or dwellings of the general character-referred to above it has been customary heretofore' to prepare in a factory the various parts of a building comprising the floors, side walls, rafters, roof and other parts in detail and to ship the more or less partly fabricated members without being assembled to the site for the building. In view of the fact that the workmen engaged in assembling the building are generally unfamiliar with buildings of that character. and in view of the difficulty of allocating the various members to their proper positions, much time has been lost and the advantages of preconstructing the parts has been reduced to s minimum.

The trend of recent years in the construction oi' dwellings of theresidence type has been in the direction of the employment of metal such as steel for use in this connection. It has been found that buildings constructed with this material maybe assembled by means of welding, bolting, or riveting the various parts together, and that the result is to provide a building that is more durable than buildings of wood, brick, stucco or other ordinary building materials. Also, it is possible to provide such buildings with a more rigid framework whereby they are better able to withstand strains such as may be imposed by wind stormaearthquakes or the like.

in accordance with the present invention I provide that dwellings may be constructed of room units of relatively few standard types of different sizes that are assembled and completely equipped at the factory and are then transported as a Whole to the site for the building. Each of these standard units is preferably constructed of wall panels of the same dimension and oi relatively iew types that are interchangeable with each For example, if solid panels, panels for windows and panels for doors are provided for each of the standard room units and the panels are interchangeable, it will be obvious that the walls of the rooms may be constructed in advance in accordance with the plans for the dwelling, and that when the room units are assembled all of the windows and doors will bein proper position ln the finished dwelling.

In addition to the provision of `wall panels of equal dimensions for all of the several room units which provides that the dimensions of the rooms are always multiples of the corresponding dimensions of` the panels, l provide that each room. unit has one horizontal dimension that is common to that of another room unit ci' diiei'ent size. This dimensional interrelation of the room. units permits their combination when desired to form rooms larger than any of the standard units, as will be later described.

In addition to the standard room units I provide auxiliary units which may be combined with the room units in any convenient or desired manner. For example, entry units may be provided at the various entrances for the dwelling. cupboard units may be provided for the interiors of the room units, and bay-windowunits may be employed for the exterior of certain rooms, as desired.

The principal advantage of pre-fabricated dwellings of the type briey referred to above are that the room units may be assembled at the factory by means of standard equipment and by workmen who are skilled in the fabrication of metals. The room units may be entirely complete as to floors, decorative nish of walls and ceilings, and supplied with lighting and other ilxtures. Inasmuch as the room units are portable, they may be transported in their nished form to the building site where a minimum amount of work is required to assemble them in cooperative relation.

The details oi the preferred iorm of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a oor plan of a central service unit adapted for use on the first floor of one-story' houses and the second hoor of two-story houses; Fig. 2 is a similar view of a central service unit adapted for the first oor in two-story houses: Fig. 3 is a door plan of a small room unit; Fig. 4 is a similar view oi a large room unit; Fig. 5 is a door plan of airont entry unit; Fig. 6 is a similar view of a rear entry unit; Fig. 7 is plan view of a baywindow unit; Fig. 8 is a plan view oi' a square cupboard unit; Fig. 9 is a similar view of a corner cupboard unit; Fig. l is a perspective view of a pre-fabricated 'dwelling o! one story; Fig. 11 is a floor plan of the ve-story dwelling of Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a two-story prefabricated dwelling; Fig. 13 is a ilrst-oor plan of the seven-room dwelling of Fig. 12; Fig. 14 is a second-door plan of the dwelling of Fig. 12; Fig. l is an enlarged elevation ci a portion of wall comprising solid panels, parts being broken away; Fig. i6 is a plan of the wall of Fig. 15; Fig. 17 is a transverse vertical section of the wall o! Fig. 15; Fig. 18 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the interlocking members o! the wall panels; Fig. 19 is a perspective view of a portion of the reinforcing stud; Fig. 20 is an exploded view in vertical section of a portion of a two-story dwelling; and Fig. 21 is a view similar to Fig. 20 of central service units and a roof deck therefor. i

Referring to Figs. l to 4, the main units of prefabricated dwellings comprise a central service unit I, Fig. 1, that is adapted for the iirst floor of one-story houses and for the second floor of two-story houses. 'I'he central service unit 2 of Fig. 2 is modied to serve for the rst floor of two-story houses. A small room unit 3 and a large room unit are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively.

Each of the three main units has walls that are preferably made up of sections or panels 5 which may be of several types that are interchangeable, but in the several iloor plans of the drawings, no distinction as to types has been made. The panels 5 may be, for example, of hollow sheet steel and approximately three feet in width and eight feet in height. The types of panels may include one adapted for solid walls, one containing a door opening and one having a window opening.

By reason of the standard interchangeable panels used in the main units, all of the horizontal dimensions oi' these units are multiples of the width of the panels and their heights are the same.

The main units are dimensionally interres lated whereby their combination and arrangement in many diierent sizes and groupings are made possible. The central service unit is nine feet by'eighteen feet, the small room unit is nine feet by twelve feet and the large room unit twelve feet by fteen feet. Thus each main unit has a dimension that is the same as a dimension of at least one other` main unit. The small room unit 3 has a length equal to the width of the large room unit and a width equal to that of the central service unit i.

Each of these main units or room units is built in a factory and is complete in every detail including electric, plumbing and heating iixtures, as well as finished with respect to doors and to decorative eil'ects of the wallsand ceilings. By

- reason of their size, each of the room units may be placedon a truck in its finished form to be hauled to the house site. The height of the room units being about eight feet, they may be placed on their sides in order that their width on the floor of the truck may conform to usual highway regulations.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, the central.

service unit i illustrated therein comprises side walls i and end walls B, each of which is made up preferably of a series of the interchangeable panels 5, certain of the details of which have been described above. The central service unit i is adapted to contain all of the service apparatus of a one-story dwelling or of the second floor of a two-story dwelling, and adapted to serve the various other rooms inthe dwelling.

The central service unit i may contain, for example, the followingl apparatus, certain of which are identified bysuitable legends:

1. The heating of air-conditioning apparatus for the dwelling, together with the necessary ducts for conveying the conditioned air to the several rooms of the house and to return the used air to the heater.

connected to the air conditioner with connections to the refrigerator wherever located.

6. The main hallway or corridor connecting the rooms of the dwelling.

7. `The main closets for adjacent rooms.

8. Water, gas and electric meters so arranged that they may he read through a window from .the exterior of 'the house.

9. Aservice stack containing the smoke ue, the vertical air risers, plumbing risers and electrical risers. f

At approximately the center of each panel in the central service unit i there will be provided a connection to several service girdles, not shown, of convenient height, which will extend completely around the Walls to provide complete ilexibility in servicing the adjoining rooms. These service girdles include ducts for hot or conditioned air, return air, electrical service, hot and cold water, drainage and refrigeration. The service girdles are permanently connected to the proper risers located in the service stack and may be repeated at the proper height for houses of more than one story.

In addition, a portion of the central service unit may be adapted for use as a halL'and if desired one end, the upper end as shown in Fig. 1, may be partitioned as indicated in dotted lines for cupboards. inasmuch as the several wall sections 5 are interchangeable, the walls may be assembled in such manner as to provide an entry into the upper end of the central service unit I instead of using all of it for cupboard space. In case of a two-story house, the central service unit 2 of Fig. 2 will be used on the ilrst oor while the central service unit i will be superposed thereon to serve the second oor. The central service unit 2 is in general similar to that of Fig. l. except that, for example, the bathroom fixtures may be omitted and the space used for the stair hall Q and part of the stairway i@ between the first and second floors.

It will be understood that any of the apparatus in the unit 2 if desired in order -to provide additional facilities.

Referring to Fig. 3, the small room unit 3 shown therein has side walls il composed of four panels 5, and end walls i2 consisting of three panels 5. As in connection with the central service units i and 2, the wall panels or sections are interchangeable and may be either solid or may contain either doors or windows, as desired. 'When the room unit is assembled at the factory the panels are selected in accordance with the floor plan to provide sections of solid walls or doors and windows in such locations as to conform with openings into adjoining rooms or to provide windows on the exterior of the building.

Each room unit will contain in permanent and xed form any or all of the following lappointments which will be installed at the factory or assembling plant:

l. Completely nished flooring material.

2. Completely decorated walls and ceilings.

vfloor plan.

5. Plumbing fixtures in the kitchen and laundry and the refrigerator in thek kitchen.

6. A system of air ducts for the proper dis- 7. Closets or cupboards which may be of the corner type or quadrangular type. y

The small room unit 3, as wellr as the large.

unit t, or combinations thereof, are always erected adjacent one or more panels of the central service unit I or 2, as the case may be, for that floor. At certain points where any room-unit panel is adjacent a panel of the central service unit it is possible to connect to the latter for conditioned air, exhaust air, and electric services, plumbing for the kitchen and laundry, and refrigeration service for the refrigerator wherever located.

Referring to Fig. 4, the large room unit 4 illustrated therein diiers from the small room unit of Fig 3 only in the matter of its dimensions. The side vwalls I3 of the room comprise ve panels, while the end walls It comprise four panels, theA dimensions ci' the room /being approximately 12x 15 feet and the height of the room 'being 8 :feet in common with the height of the central service unit and the small room unit. Contrary to the usual practice, the room units 3 and d are framed parallel to the long axis of the unit. This construction provides that the room units may be placed side by side on the long axis with the omission of the adjoining walls, and thus by -means of various combinations of room units a great variety of room sizes is possible. For example, by means of the small room unit 3 and the large room unit and certain combinations thereof, it is possible to provide any dwelling with rooms approximately of the following sizes:

9x 12 ft. room of one small room unit. 12 l5`ft. room of one large room unit. 12X 18 ft. room of two small room units. 15x24 it. room of two large room units. The rooms listed above are all of rectangular In addition, there may be provided the follow-s ing rooms of approximately the size stated:

15x21 ft. room of one large and one small roomv side because the two-room units are plac'ed side by side and they are of different lengths. The

`second room is formed by placing a small room unit on each side of a large room unit, thus causing an angular wall on one side because of the greater length of the central large room unit.

-Obviously this list of rooms Vmay be extended substantially as desired by the combination of small and large room units in a similar manner.

In addition to the three main units that have been described above, auxiliary units may be employed in cooperative relation with appropriate parts of the main units. For example, a front entryunit l5 shown in Fig. 5 may be prefabricated and arranged to constitute a vestibule withtwo doorways I6 and I1 in alignment with the vestibule space located between them.

The entry l5 comprises space in addition to that for the vestibule, and this space may be utilized in a number of ways. For example, a solid partition I8 may extend centrally across the entry unit and a doorway i9 may open into the interior of the house, thus providing a coat cupboard adjacent the front door but which does not occupy any space in the house proper. vIl liis coat cupboard may be providedwlth a hat shelf 20 'and the usual coat hangers, umbrella rack, and

other fixtures, not shown, all of which may be installed at the factory.

When the entry unit is used as a rear entry the space therein'may be arranged as shown in Fig. 6. The partition IB has been omitted and the additional space becomes part of the main vestibule `and may be used forV the storage of house refuse cans, brooms, mops and the like, and may also have located therein a standard package receiver device 2l into which articles may be delivered by tradesmen. f

The entry units arranged either for use as a front entry or a rear entry will ordinarily be delivered to the site for the house in a single piece, including finished oors, roof, doors, glazed windows, electric wiring and xtures and all decorations'ready to be set on its foundation and connected to the'house proper. i

The bay-window `unit 22 illustrated in Fig. 'I may be completely pre-fabricated in the factory to replace, for example, three panels of the wall of the room to which it is to be attached. In order to provide this unit is is only necessary to omit three wall panels, thewindow being of the -oriel type that is carried on brackets and requiring no foundation. As in the case of the other units, the bay-window unit 22 is delivered complete inone piece, including finished floors, roof, glazed windows, electric wiring and fixtures and all decorations.

The square cupboard 23 illustrated in Fig. 8

may be used in any room unit where an additional cupboard is desired. It is preferably one panel in length and one panel in width. A door 2B is provided' as are a shelf 25 and suitable coat hangers or shelving or drawers as desired.

The corner cupboard 2l (Fig. 9) is similar to the'square cupboard of Fig. 8 except that it extends along the diagonal between the joints of panels forming the corner of a room. It may be provided with two doors 28 opening into the room, when it is used, for example, as a china cupboard in a dining-room. When used, for example, as a clothes closet in a bedroom, it may have a single door.

Referring to Figs. 10 and 11the one-story fiveroom house 30 shown therein illustrates one type of building that may be formed by the portable units described in detail above. that the house comprises a central service unit l, a kitchen formed by a small room unit, a diningroom formed by another smallroom unit, and a It will be noted bedroom at the right of the central service unit l that is `formed by a third small room unit. A living-room is formed by the combination of two small room units with their long sides together,

and a front bedroom is formed by a large room unit.

It will be noted that the central service unit l is arranged to provide a hallway 3l between the small bedroom and the living-room, as well as a hallway 32 leading into the front bedroom.

dining-,room is provided with a corner cupboard having two doors 28.

Another corner of the central service unit provides a square cupboard 35 for the small bedroom. A front entry unit l5 corresponds to that shown in Fig. 5 and provides an entrance into the living-room. .f The kitchen is provided with a rear entry which, as stated above in connection with Fig. 6, provides storage space for refuse cans and such. articles as mops and brooms.

A suitable opening between the dining-room and living-room is provided by the omission of two panels from each of the intervening walls. The dwelling 3d of Figs. 10 and 11 thus comprises one central service unit, one large room unit, ve small room units, two entry units, one bay-window unit, and two corner cupboard units.

The appearance of the exterior of the dwelling 30, the iioor plan of which appears in Fig. 11, -will be substantially that shown in Fig. 10. The various room units will be brought to the building site in a complete condition and mounted in their proper places on the foundation ywhich has been previously provided. The room units may be suitably bolted or fastened to the foundation, and they may be connected to each other in a number of suitable ways, such, for example, as by bolting, riveting or welding. Suitable weather-proof connections between room units will be provided.

The central service unit receives the external connections for electric lights, gas and water and the usual sewer connections. It will only be necessary to make the proper connections between the several rooms and the girdles or conduits withwhich the central serviceunit is provided ln order to provide the various rooms of the house with the usual facilities.' The top of the central service unit is provided with a roof deck 3l which extends above the tops of the other rooms and with a monitor @d over the service stack.

Reference may now be had to the house di) shown in Figs. l2, 13 and 14. which contains by way of example seven rooms and is arranged in two stories. As shown in Fig. 13, the rst-iioor plan comprises a living-room composed of two large room units, a dining-room oi' a single large room unit, a kitchen of a small' room unit, and in addition a central service unit 2. A front entry unit provides access to the living-room and the kitchen is provided with a. rear entry unit. The inner end of the central service unit supplies a cupboard di for the kitchen and a cupboard i2 for the dining-room. A hallway d3 connects the living-room, dining-room and kitchen.

The second-floor plan is shown in Fig. 14. A

` second central service unit i is mounted above the service yunit 2 of the first iioor and the remaining rooms comprise three bedrooms and a maids room. ".E'hevcentrall service unit provides a hallway t@ which opens into all oi the rooms on the second oor and in addition provides a cupboard d5 for the maids room and a second cupboard 36 for the 4adjoining bedroom. The front bedrooms are provided with square cupboards 23.

The building shown in Figs. 12, 13 and le is assembled in the same general manner as that described in connection with the building of Figs.

and 11, the various rooms requiring two central service units, six large room units, two small room units, two entry units and two square cupboard units.

The five-room house of Figs. 10 and 11 and the two-story seven-room house of Figs. 1,2, l13 and 14 are shown by Way of example only to illustrate the ease with which the room units may be assembled or combined in various combinations and relations to provide houses of a relatively large number of types. By reason of the interchangeable nature oi' the wall panels of which` the room actas-ia l is simply a matter of choice on the part of the purchaser of a pre-fabricated dwelling since the number ofvways in which the room units may be combined is practically unlimited.

Reference may now be had to Figs.'15 to 18 which illustrate a preferred form of construction oi the sheet metal wall panels 5 with particular regard to the interlocking members for assembling them. Each panel is hollow and is provided on one side edge with a tongue it and on the opposite side edge with a groove il which is larger in its dimensions than the tongue 4S, whereby a reinforcing solid metal stud i8 of angular cross section may be inserted between and interlocked with the adjoining edges of two panels.

In use the panels are preferably lled with suitable heat-insulating material with such rock wool and their ends may be covered by sheet metal panel closers lig. Figs. 15, 16 and 17 show details of the manner in which the panels 5 are assembled.

A tie angle 5@ at the inner top portion of the wall is attached as by welding to the adjacent edge portions of the studs 68. This tie angle 50 also provides means for attaching and supporting ahollow hoor deck 5l or a hollow-roof deck 52, as the case may be, such as illustrated in Figs. 20 and 21. The iloor and roof decks may be composed of hollow metal members similar to the wall, the hollow space therein being available for insulating materials. The upper surface of the oor deck would have a finished wood iioor surface 55, attached thereto, and the lower surface of the iloor deck 5i or roof deck 52, as the case may be, would constitute the ceiling of the room y below.

A bottom tie angle 53 is similarly connected to the bottom edge portions of the studs i8 and may be connected to the top of a hollow floor deck 5i.

Fig. 20 represents a typical section through a two-story dwelling, the parts being spaced for clearness of illustration. The foundation 5l may support a metal foundation plate 53 to which the room unit thereabove may be bolted, welded or otherwise secured. A drip table d@ which extends below the top of the foundation may be omitted for interior walls, as may be the weather plate 60 between the upper and lower room units under similar conditions.

The roof deck 52 is fitted upon the tops oi room units of either one-story or two-story houses. For interior walls, the eave projection 62 and the weather angle 63 are omitted.

The construction shown in Fig. 21 diiers from that of Fig. 20 principally in that it is a typical section of superposed central service units i and 2 with an elevated' roof deck dl and monitor 38 for the service stack provided with louvres 8d. The roof deck l is suitable for either one or twostory houses, and, as in the case of roof deck 52, it also constitutes the ceiling of the room unit below. l l

The pre-fabricated dwelling system oi my invention permits the completion of each unit at the factory where skilled workmen may employ standard equipment and materials. The room units are portable and may be hauled by trucks and unloaded by derricks or cranes. Comparatively little time is required to assemble the units of the dwelling on a foundation previously prepared.

'Ihe use of standardv panels that are interis small, thus providing for quantity production with corresponding reduction of costs.

The foregoing and other advantages will be apparent to those skilled-in the art relating to the manufacture and assembling of preconstructed dwellings.

While I have shown and described my invention in its preferred form, it will be understood that various modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The in-l vention is not to be limited other than expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A pre-fabricated room-like unit for use in forming a building, comprising a plurality of hollow metal wall panels of the same dimensions, an

end wall of each panel having` an outwardly projecting portion forming a vertical tongue, and the opposite end wall of the panel being provided with a vertical groove for receiving the, tongue of the adjacent panel, said groove being wider than said tongue, and a rigid stud fitted between said adjacent panels and occupying the space between said tongue and groove, whereby said panels are locked together and reinforced.

2. A building comprising a plurality oi' rooms individually formed from pre-fabricated roomlike units and each having separate enclosing walls, the walls of each unit being made up oi a pluralityof interchangeable panels of uniform dimensions. said rooms being disposed in irregular arrangement with at least some of their walls only partially overlapping walls of adjoining rooms, and the overlapping walls of adjoining vrooms being disposed with the panels of one room coinciding with those of the other whereby to permit the forming of registering openings in said adjoiningwalls by the omission of at least one pair of the'coinciding panels.

3. A building comprising a plurality of rooms individually formed from portable pre-fabricated room-like units and each having separate enclosing walls. the walls of each unit being made up of interchangeable panels of uniform dimensions, some of said units being connected together with their intervening walls omitted to form at least one room larger than any unit, said rooms being disposed side by side in irregular arrangement with the overlapping portions of the walls of adjoining rooms arranged with the panels of one room coinciding with those of the other whereby to permit the forming of registering openings in said adjoining walls by the omission of at least one pair of the coinciding panels.

CHARLES L. woomnmoa. $0 

